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“CALL me maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen, a Canadian vocalist, was the best-selling song last year. Is it maybe also time to call the bottom for the music industry? According to data released on February 26th by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, sales of recorded music grew in 2012 for the first time since 1999, albeit only by 0.3%, to $16.5 billion (see chart).
加拿大歌手Carly Rae Jepsen演繹的《來個電話，如果可以（CALL me maybe）》成為去年最暢銷的歌曲。是不是也該往音樂行業的谷底打個電話了？國際唱片業協會（IFPI）周二（2月26日）公布的數據顯示，2012年全球唱片銷量額為165億美元（見圖表），盡管增幅僅有0.3%，但實現了1999年以來的首度增長。
The internet sank the music industry, but is now helping it to resurface. Digital sales rose 9% last year; a third of the music industry’s revenues now come through digital channels. Download stores represent roughly 70% of digital revenues. Popular “streaming” services, such as Spotify and Deezer, which pay a royalty each time a song is played, have also helped to rescue the business. Subscription services had 20m paying subscribers around the world in 2012, up 44% from a year earlier. Millions more use free advertising-supported versions.
互聯網曾使音樂行業遭受了沉重的打擊，但如今它又在幫助音樂行業重新崛起。去年，數字音樂的銷售額增長了9%；現在音樂行業收入的三分之一都通過數字渠道實現，下載商店的收入約占數字音樂收入的70%。享受Spotify和Deezer等流行的“流式”服務時，每播放一首歌曲都需支付相應的版權費，這也是在挽救音樂行業。2012年，全球擁有2千萬付費用戶享受音樂訂閱服務，這一數字同比增長44%。另外，還有數百萬人在使用有贊助廣告的免費版本。
The growth of smartphones has made it more attractive to own and stream music legally. Smartphones are the third most popular device on which to listen to music, after personal computers and hi-fi systems. Over 100 countries now host digital music services for legal downloading and streaming, compared with only 23 in January 2011.
智能手機的發展已經使合法擁有和下載音樂更具有吸引力。智能手機是繼PC和HiFi之后第三大音樂播放設備。目前，提供合法的數字音樂下載和流媒體音樂服務的國家超過了100個，而2011年1月僅有23個。
Digital revenues may be rising, but physical sales still account for most of the music industry’s revenue—and they continue to fall almost everywhere (Japan and South Korea are exceptions).
數字音樂的收入雖然呈上升趨勢，但實體音樂的銷售額仍構成音樂行業收入的主要來源——幾乎每個地方（日本和韓國除外）的實體音樂收入都在繼續下降。
The ease of owning or streaming music may have helped to draw people away from piracy. But around a third of internet users continue to visit unlicensed sites. This may explain why revenues have stopped falling but have not yet grown by even a full percentage point. Still, it looks as though the music industry has (at last) found a new more buoyant rhythm.
下載音樂或欣賞流媒體音樂的輕松便捷可能也鼓勵了人們遠離盜版，但約三分之一的互聯網用戶還在繼續訪問未經授權的網站，也許這就是音樂行業收入雖停止下滑但增長仍不到一個百分點的原因。不過，音樂行業似乎（終于）看到了重新崛起的曙光。
BY 許勐
